Take Control Of Your Emotions
The quality of your life is directly related to what you focus on in any given moment. Focus directs your attention and clarifies your actions. Effective people are masters at establishing and maintaining focus. They focus on their dreams and the results they want to create. When they encounter a problem, they focus on solving that problem so that they can get back to moving toward their goals.
I've repeatedly seen two common challenges in the area of focus. Either having a difficult time establishing focus, or unsuccessfully maintaining it.
Establishing focus requires that you get clear about what you want and what you have to do to get there. It also requires you to clearly define your priorities and manage your time and energy in accordance with them.
Effective people are willing to say no. When they make a commitment, they follow through on that commitment unless they're presented with a true emergency. Before making a commitment to someone else's priorities, they carefully evaluate whether or not that promise will support or detract from their present undertakings.
Now that you know what to do, it's vital that you do what you know. This requires self-discipline and a healthy dose of personal responsibility. I'm confident you have both of those factors and that you can use them to your advantage and establish your focus.
Once focus is established and you begin to move toward your goals, you can be certain that you will run into obstacles. The manner in which you handle them will directly contribute to your success or failure. Believe it or not, these obstacles are essential to you achieving your goals. They are your universal instructions to the accomplishment of your goals. Look at them as your own radar system to show you what needs to be addressed in order for you to move forward to the next part of your goal achievement plan.
The universe doesn't throw these obstacles at you just to kick you around. It does it because it wants you to have what you want. So, it creates these problems to come in to show you what to address.
Here's what we usually do. Ms Go-Getter is going for the goal. She's created a lot of momentum and is feeling great. Then the worst happens – she runs into an unforeseen problem. Rather than maintain focus on her original goal and seeing this as an opportunity to put a strategy in place to manage the problem, Ms Go-Getter shifts all of her energy to the problem in front of her. She invests her emotions in it, allowing herself to be frustrated by its very presence. She looks to identify the people who caused the problem, so that she can let them know she's angry. She discusses the unfairness of the problem with anyone who will listen. She has shifted her focus from her goal and the solution to the problem to investing all of her energy in the actual problem. She will develop quite a relationship with this problem because the approach she's using assures it will be around for a long time to come.
Don't fall into this trap! You will have problems. You will meet obstacles. Few of your projects will go according to plan. No matter what circumstances you encounter, maintain a laser-like focus on your original goal and invest all of your energy in getting over, around, under or through the problem you're facing. Using this approach, your problems will be short-lived and you'll reduce your frustration level exponentially